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Father of Rock
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Bob Dylan's thoughtful lyrics influenced rock music like no other musician.
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Fathers and mothers throughout the land, don't criticise what you can't understand, your sons and your daughters are beyond your command, the old road is rapidly aging. So please get out a new one if you can't lend your hand. For the times, they are a changing...
JUST AS apt today as it was nearly 40 years ago. Lyrics like these attracted the attention of both king and commoner, - lines that were very topical, meaningful, sometimes filled with caustic humour but always thought provoking. No musician has perhaps, influenced Rock music through his lyrics as much as Bob Dylan.
Born Robert Zimmerman, he officially changed his name to Bob Dylan after the poet Dylan Thomas. His music and lyrics were to a great extent influenced by his idol — Woody Guthrie. He began his career singing in coffee houses and a favourable review in The New York Times which described him as the `future of Rock music', led to his first album - Bob Dylan '62. The album failed to get noticed. Bob Dylan '62 revealed no indication of the glorious music and lyrics that the musician was to produce later. The real Bob Dylan came to the fore with his second album The free wheelin' Bob Dylan. It contained songs - almost all original compositions and included chart busters like, Blowin' in the wind, A hard rain's gonna fall, Girl from the North Country and Oxford town. Dylan soon became the torchbearer of folk music and was spoken of in the same breath as, Woody Guthrie, Joan Baez and Pete Seeger.
He however, surprisingly and to the utter dismay of his fans turned his back on folk songs and protest music.
The years 1965 and 1966 saw him at his musical best. Mr. Tambourine Man, Gates of Eden, It's all over now, Baby blue, Love minus zero, and Rainy Day woman amongst others, placed him in a league far above his contemporaries.
In mid 1966, Dylan was involved in a motorcycle accident, which caused many broken bones, scars and while he recuperated away from public gaze, rumours abounded that the man was dead. He however made a re-entry at a Woody Guthrie memorial show in May 1969, and also performed at a benefit concert for Bangladesh.
Convinced that jailed boxer Ruben Carter (subject of his album `Hurricane') was wrongly convicted for murder, Dylan organised two benefit concerts. Though Carter did get a retrial, he was once again convicted.
1979 saw one more turn around from Dylan. He had become a born-again Christian and this period saw him produce - Slow train coming, You gotta serve somebody, Saved, Shot of love and Precious angel.
Though he continued to release albums in the 80s and 90s Dylan, somehow could not reproduce the old magic. It was the music and lyrics of his earlier days that inspired a whole generation of luminaries - including musician Bruce Springsteen, cricketer Bob Willis, statesmen Jimmy Carter, Bill Clinton and Vaclav Havel.
A. GEORGE ANTONY
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